Team News Riveting
Kochi, December 16
Each vote counts and the outcome of the Kochi Municipal Corporation election stands testimony to it.
N Venugopal, the Mayor candidate of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kochi Corporation lost the Kerala local body polls to the NDA candidate by just one vote. The senior Congress leader and former chairman of the Greater Cochin Development Corporation (GCDA) contested from Island North ward and polled 181 votes.
He lost to NDA’s Padmakumari T, who bagged 182 votes. The ruling LDF candidate was pushed to the third position.
The loss of Venugopal, former general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), who was projected as UDF’s Mayor candidate, has come as a big blow to the Congress-led alliance, which had ruled the Kochi Corporation for the past 10 years.
Moreover, Venugopal lost the sitting seat of the UDF in the Island North ward. He was arrested in August in a theft case related to valuables worth over Rs 1.40 lakh that went missing from the official residence of the GCDA chairman during his tenure as its chief. This could have probably become a poll plank against Venugopal in the elections.
During his tenure as the chairman, Venugopal had furnished his official residence with furniture costing Rs 50 lakh. However, when his term ended, many valuables were missing and a complaint was filed by the then GCDA Secretary. He was booked under sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property) and 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) of the Indian Penal Code.
After the debacle, Venugopal told reporters that there could be technical glitch and that one more vote was not counted. He said he would discuss the issue with the party leadership before going for an appeal.
Although the UDF held the Kochi Corporation for the past two terms, it would not be an easy fight this time as the alliance failed to get a clear majority. Out of the 74 wards in the local body, UDF is leading in 31 wards, while LDF leads in 29 wards, NDA in five and independent candidates lead in 10 wards.
